Ron Paul lives! So does Elizabeth Kucinich's husband!

Rep. Ron Paul, the 72-year-old libertarian-like, 10-term Texas congressman who's also running for the Republican presidential nomination, easily won his 14th District primary Tuesday and is set for easy re-election in November.

With about half the precincts counted (what's the rush -- it's Texas) Paul was thumping Friendswood City Councilman Chris Peden by two-to-one.

Now, Paul can set his sights on this other old-timer, 71-year-old Sen. John McCain, who claims to have won more than the 1,191 GOP delegates for the Republican presidential nomination this September at the National Convention in St. Paul (no relation to the congressman).

Actually, Paul hasn't really won any Republican primaries in the current political season, though he did take some fourths and fifths and a couple of second place caucus finishes. And he controls somewhere between 12 and 42 delegates, depending on who's counting as if that matters anymore.

But just Paul's powerful presence, eloquence and outspoken defense of the Constitution has forced every other Republican party luminary out of the 2007-08 race, including Rudy Giuliani, who's now reduced to doing bit parts on "Saturday Night Live," Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Sam who's-its from Kansas and that grumpy guy from Virginia. Tuesday night, faced with the prospect of a hard-charging Paul on his tail, even former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee gave up, although he directed his concession speech at McCain to save face.

Paul, the only Republican presidential candidate to oppose the Iraq war, is no longer the oldest presidential candidate since the 74-year-old Ralph Nader began his quadrennial quest for 3% of the vote. Paul has declined to endorse McCain, which pretty much dooms the Arizonan's candidacy in the eyes of thousands of Ron Paul Revolutionaries.

Although they have been largely ignored by a media that thought the race involved ...

so-called front-runners like Giuliani and Romney, Paul's army of earnest, dedicated volunteers have fueled the GOP's most successful and recent fundraising quarter, when Paul amassed nearly $20 million. This year so far, according to Paul's campaign website, they've donated an extra $6.14 million.

These volunteers, many of them new to the political process, have organized some 1,400+ meet-up groups that wrote thousands of letters and hand-painted countless signs to wave at motorists in intersections and passing beneath them on interstate bridges all over the country. Their chatrooms coach supporters on what to say and how to say it to encourage broader political support.

These fans fervently scour the Internet at all hours for stories like this to comment on or correct. Some websites refuse to accept their comments so, uh, fervent are they and sometimes trite -- "Ron Paul 2008" and "the Revolution will not be televised." But we've welcomed most of them on The Ticket because they're so eager for dialogue, involvement and follow the day's political events with admirable intensity.

These folks also devised some of the most imaginative fundraising schemes from mini-music concerts to Boston Tea Party re-enactments to music videos to pinup calendars showing female Ron Paul fans with very little clothing on, which only Ron Paul supporters are allowed to click here to see.

There was confusion after Paul knocked Romney out of the presidential contest about the congressman continuing his presidential race because he said he needed to focus on his House primary. But Paul vows to continue to run his hopeless campaign as long as his supporters support him and his ideas of strict constitutionalism. And now that he's waxed Peden, McCain had better watch out. Not by coincidence, McCain quickly left Texas after Paul's win, allegedly to visit the White House today.

Paul's supporters will explain below that if it wasn't for a vast media conspiracy, led by Fox News in cahoots with big banks and oil companies who tell newspapers what to print, their candidate might very well be the one celebrating 1,191 GOP delegates today. How Paul supporters know their candidate has been ignored when they claim to no longer read newspapers is unexplained.

Anyway, a few blogs such as The Ticket have explained Dr. Paul's plans to drastically downsize the federal government, bring all overseas American troops home and abolish the Federal Reserve because it does bad things. But apparently few voters read blogs or they don't care about Ron Paul.

Paul supporters explain now that winning elections isn't the only measure of success in politics and that they are driving a historic idea of restoring American freedoms whose time will come and actual contemporary votes are irrelevant. All of which is what candidates say about votes when they don't get many.

Speaking of votes and hopeless causes, another presidential contender and House member, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, was getting a sufficient number Tuesday night to beat back four primary challengers in his home Cleveland district. The main competitor was City Councilor Joe Cimperman, who trailed Kucinich 52% to 33% in early returns, despite several endorsements by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The liberal Kucinich dropped out of the Democratic presidential race and, using his list of national donors, most of whom don't live in Cleveland on purpose, Kucinich raised a reported $700,000 to protect his congressional seat.

Some political observers, who won't admit it now and also don't live in Cleveland by choice, thought Kucinich was in political trouble at home because he was always off somewhere else running for president and driving his hopeless agenda of impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney over starting the Iraq war. Cimperman ran ads parodying Kucinich's quixotic presidential campaign absences, but obviously they didn't work too well.

Now, Republican state Rep. Jim Trakas will have his turn to unseat the former Cleveland mayor in the general election Nov 4.

(UPDATE: Late returns indicate Kucinich won his primary by a 50:35 margin while Paul won his 70:30.)

Meanwhile, Kucinich is still married to his wife, Elizabeth, who looks a whole lot nicer than he does. So we're publishing her photo instead.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Photo: Elizabeth Kucinich (Mark Duncan / Associated Press)

Comments

[Ronnie]

"Meanwhile, Kucinich is still married to his wife, Elizabeth, who looks a whole lot nicer than he does. So we're publishing her photo instead."

Haha; good decision!

[tim, minnesota]

First, the video backup for my point is on Ron Paul web site and U-tube. The weekend of 2/23, Ron Paul held two rallies in Texas. The first at a hotel had 1200 supporters, the second at UT Austin had between 4K-6K supporters, and not one word in the national media about either Ron Paul event. MSM claims Ron is long shot dark horse. Ok, I give MSM that for making my point. Any newsworthy national media would report a nut job kook having 7,000 people attend his rallies in Texas.

The attendance is over twice Huckabee 2 events the next weekend at similar venues. The MSM could have reported a great story considering Huckabee poor event attendance relative to Ron. However, alas the MSM continues the media blackout. Even my dad called from California 2 weeks ago, giving condolences as the California media claimed Ron Paul quit the presidential bid. MSM does make or break a campaign. It is all about marketing, exposure, and more exposure. Unfortunately Ron Paul gets scrums for coverage, this on line media blog being an exception.

We are a long way from the convention, delegates are not counted or chosen in caucus states and conservative Republicans are no happier with McCain the day after super Tuesday #2.

(No blackout here.)

[Jack]

Go ahead, mock Ron Paul. He's the only candidate telling the truth, and that's the last thing most people seem to want to hear in this election year.

(I think he's a fascinating story, which is why we write about him so much.)

[Curtis]

I'm Glad Paul and Kucinich kept their jobs, and I'm glad Clinton won big on March 4th!

[Jason]

Do I sense some sarcasm?

Look, you can paint it however you want to. We are far and above, the most informed voters in this election. We believe in our guy. It is a real shame that Ron never got mentioned in a news article without the words "long shot" or "quixotic bid for the president" right afterwards. Thats not to say that the campaign didn't make mistakes that hurt themselves, because they certainly did. They never expected the support they got and seemed not to understand how to leverage it into wins.

If you look at this objectively, there has not been a movement like this in American politics since the Draft Goldwater movement in 1963. Someday you will look back and see that you were covering the story that changed the Republican Party. The real story is that the Paleo-con/libertarian wing of the party is not going to vote for McCain and he is going to lose the election. After that, disenfranchised neo-cons are going to have to reassess their positions, and we are going to be there to fill the void. A lot of people thought that congress was lost in 2006 because of the war, but I don't think that is so. I think they lost because tried and true GOP voters (like myself) didn't vote them back in because of massive deficits and growth of government.

2006 was the first time I didnt vote Republican and it was like having to put my dog to sleep. Something I didn't want to do emotionally, but something that had to be done. This fall is going to be no different. I'll probably vote third party again. Its depressing to think that the GOP is going to lose and lose big, but it really doesn't matter anymore. Ron Paul is something different and would have made a great president.

Although I disagree with Denis on most issues, I'm glad he won. He is another honest voice in congress and its sad the way his party bailed on him for telling the truth and not sticking to the story.

(You won't find longshot in here. You guys taught me that a long time ago.)

[Jim]

Your headline is funny.

Good for those guys.

We need more principled radicals and less appeasing centrists.

[Ron]

How many times can you use the word hopeless?

Mr. Malcom, if upwards of 70% of the American population wants out of Iraq, why do you think that the only anti-war Presidential candidate (for both parties) is getting 5-10% of the national vote?
Perhaps you could have turned on the tv over the last six months and counted the amount of on air minutes Dr. Paul had compared to the Guilianis, Romneys and McCains. Then you could have assumed that since 80% of Americans get their "news" from television, that some breaking story was evolving.
Maybe somebody at LA Times can moonlight as a journalist and get on that scoop.
Personally I think American's don't like his hair. Or his wife's body. Or the often repeated fact of just how old the poor man is!

[politics12]

What will the Republicans do when John McCain is forced to stand down as the Presidential nominee of the GOP when his unfortunate profiting from old buddy and Arizona Elect McCain Committee co-chair Congressman Rick Renzi's extortion, money laundering and land scams comes to light? Or will he just excuse himself and say 'It was a boneheaded thing to do?', which has already proved to be an effective excuse for another well known candidate?

Or is John McCain so well protected by his control of the Abramoff files and all the dirty deals of influence peddling chronicled therein that he is untouchable?

[MIKE WEST]

NO TRUER WORDS WERE EVER SPOKEN. MSM KILLED RON PAUL, BUT NOT HIS WORDS, THE REVELUTION LIVES ON

[Jay]

It takes several exposures to Ron Paul's message for Americans to "get it" due to the television brainwashing that has gone on for so long. People don't recognize that islamic fascists are represented in the same way communists were portrayed during the cold war. Fear is an effective tool. Highly motivated Ron Paul supporters engage people in conversation on buses, in workplaces, on college campuses and at family gatherings. I hope this leads to more dialogue throughout this country about a whole range of issues, less dependence on the media to provide a position on issues and less entertainment-driven individual isolationism.

[Ormely Gumphungent]

Being a Texas Republican, I voted and then attended the precinct convention after the close of the polls. At the meeting, a gentleman was present who presented about 15 resolutions for consideration. All but three of the resolutions passed with near, if not 100%, support of the attendees (only two of which were Ron Paul supporters). The resolutions were right out of the Ron Paul position papers though - small government, getting the US out of the UN and other multi-national groups, repealing the income tax, getting rid of multiple agencies of the federal government, etc. The ones which did not pass were to completely get out of Iraq, and to go to the gold standard. Overall it was quite enlightening to see that although the people found (and voted for) Dr. Paul's ideas to be overwhelmingly in-line with thier own wishes for how the government works, (and opposite that of which Mr. McCain preaches) they were not capable of realizing this when they voted not two hours earlier for who they wanted as leader of this country. How can a people exist for long when their schizophrenia is so deeply intrenched in them?

Orm

[frank]

Entertaining article as usual.

Ron Pauls message lives on.

RP 2012

[David]

And then there were two!

It's just Ron Paul vs. McCain now.

There are 7 more days of primaries and caucuses between now and the RNC, and you'll be damned if you tell the people in *those* states that their votes don't matter.

[Elizabeth]

Andrew,

You like that word, "hopeless", don't you? You use it a lot.

Although you have mentioned Paul's platform, you have never explained it. Which is something I, for one, have asked you to do a number of times. You seem content to skim the surface of events, instead of offering a deeper analysis that might actually give people some meaningful grist for their mental mills.

Elizabeth Kucinich is a lovely woman, and her love and support for her husband are evident on her face. But how is that related to the story?

Also, Andrew, I asked you a question in a previous post: Do you have any joy in your life? Or has your cynicism and resignation totally overwhelmed you? I ask this not to be critical but to get you thinking about how you see life and how that affects your writing, and, most likely, the rest of your life.

We'll keep reading if you'll keep writing.

Love, another Elizabeth

(It seems I'm hopelessly enthralled by the word hopeless, doesn't it? Mathematically it's true, but I see your point. We have written about Dr. Paul's platform and the other candidates' many times. In fact, long before any other media outlet paid attention, we devoted an entire item just to Dr. Paul's own words on his foreign policy platform. That may have been before you become so loyal to The Ticket. But if you click on Ron Paul in the subject listings to the right, you'll find it from last summer. We do always include the candidate's own website as well, so interested Ticket readers can go and find out more information on their own. we don't pretend to be an encyclopedia.)

[Jenn]

The newspeople in media have gotten way too influential in these elections and swaying people's votes. I don't care about their opinions and polls - I just want them to report the news with some journalistic integrity. I couldn't believe how the media treated Ron Paul, Kuccinich, Hunter, and others - such disrespect for our ELECTED officials. They were the only ones who brought some intellectual stimulation to these debates.

[Anarcissie]

Ron: ''Mr. Malcom, if upwards of 70% of the American population wants out of Iraq, why do you think that the only anti-war Presidential candidate (for both parties) is getting 5-10% of the national vote?'

Scientific research has shown that only five or ten per cent of tthe voters vote on a basis of ideology, policy or character, as perceived from evidence and the use of reason. Most vote emotionally and intuitively, and their major concerns are image and the perception of immediate self-interest. Most politicians and most of the media recognize this and treat candidates accordingly. Hence, although candidates like Ron Paul reflect what many voters claim are their principles or desires (such as getting out of Iraq) they do not succeed in the polls. If it's a conspiracy it's one in which most of the people collude.

[NiliePile]

"Paul's supporters will explain below that if it wasn't for a vast media conspiracy, lead by Fox News in cahoots with big banks and oil companies who tell newspapers what to print, their candidate might very well be the one celebrating 1,191 GOP delegates today."

Come on Andrew, you know that the MSM did marginalize Ron Paul from the beginning. No need to make fun of us Ron Paul supporters.

[Hart Williams]

"Meanwhile, Kucinich is still married to his wife, Elizabeth, who looks a whole lot nicer than he does. So we're publishing her photo instead."

So, why is YOUR picture up? Fair's fair, or, pot: kettle. Equal treatment for allegedly fugly-looking sexagenarians.

(Oh that one's simple. Cause it's my blog.)

[jennifer]

It's amazing to me when you ask why someone is voting for a candidate - I got many responses of "she's a woman", "I just like him/her", "he's black", "he's a tough guy" speaking about Hillary, Obama, and McCain - that they have no idea about where their candidates stand on the issues such as the economy, trade, and education. I wish people would realize this election isn't some scientific experiment - hey let's just elect him or her and see what happens.....Ron Paul supporters at least know where their candidate stands on FEDERAL issues. One issue voters are ruining our country.

[Ron Paul]

Great story!

You do realise from an Internet perspective this movement is historic? I'm a professional in the Internet industry and this movement has turned politics on its head.

Think of it in terms of p2p vs the record industry. That is what is happening to politics.

Well done for chronicling some of the story.

(Well, it's no accident we keep coming back to it, that's for sure.)

[iLoveRonPaul]

best. article. ever...

Also, I think I may have been more inclined to vote for Kucinich's wife...

[BuelahMan]

I found the article seriously UNfunny.

[Greg Morse]

"Meanwhile, Kucinich is still married to his wife, Elizabeth, who looks a whole lot nicer than he does. So we're publishing her photo instead."

Since you posted Ron Paul's picture, does this mean you find Ron Paul more attractive than his wife? There seems to be more to this story, Andrew.

[Lori]

Another useless article telling us how "HOPELESS" it is to care about freedom.

[lastnymleft]

You're almost there, Andrew. Two corrections, though:

(1) The conspiracy to shut down Ron Paul from the 2008 presidential campaign did not come *directly* from the big banks, and oil companies. They do it through instruments such as the Bilderberg Group, and their foreign policy arm, the Council on Foreign relations, which sets the agenda, and the *other* candidates, and the major media heads, that are ALL members, put the plan into action.

(2) You said "How Paul supporters know their candidate has been ignored when they claim to no longer read newspapers is unexplained." Well, no, it's not unexplained at all. It's proven, via independent, authoritative source: the "Project on Excellence in Journalism" at http://www.journalism.org has been examining media coverage on a weekly basis. They have shown that Dr Paul has been given less than 1% of significant media coverage for the last seven weeks straight, including key weeks, such as the lead up to Super Tuesday, when he received statistically ZERO significant news coverage. That week was the week in which the 4th quarter donation tallies were released by the FEC, showing Dr Paul raising a stunning $20M - far more than any other Republican - and also the week in which it was revealed he received more donations from individual members of the military than ALL other candidates - Dem and Repub - COMBINED. He also got a second in one of the states, during that week, but that was ignored, too. How could he have got ZERO significant coverage in that week, given those MAJOR stories...if not a conspiracy to black him out, and shut down his campaign?
Don't believe me? Look: http://journalism.org/node/9610 (See the table down the bottom (not even the PEJ mentions him in their graphs, or their commentary)
http://journalism.org/news_index

This is being noted, and will not be tolerated. Hell hath no fury like a r3V0Lution scorned.

[Dave]

McCain is looking under bus seats for loose change his campaign is so strapped for cash. Romney blew so much of his own money on his campaign, he ended up spending $1 million per delegate he won. Hillary is lending her campaign money and her staffers are working without pay. Ron Paul is the only candidate not in debt. So who's most qualified to lead this country out of the financial ruin in which the Bush Administration has sunk us?

[Greg]

I'm not voting for Ron Paul because he doesn't talk about "CHANGE." We need CHANGE! He's just an old white politician with the same old ideas. Freedom, Liberty, Privacy, our hard earned Dollars backed by gold. Man who wants that? We want hospitals that make us feel like we are at the DMV or Post Office at Christmas time. We want higher taxes so that we can pay the interest on every dollar printed by the "Federal" Reserve.

By the way, can you write in a vote on the Diebold electronic voting machines?

[Larry]

"abolish the Federal Reserve because it does bad things."

You say this sracastically? Check some financial news. The fed has TANKED the economy. Print and borrow, print and borrow. Completely unconstitutional all the way. Now the fed is colluding with privvate banks to "write down" or forgive mortgage debt? Can I skip a few payments and have the taxpayers pay off my house?

$168 billion stimulus package? There is no $168 billion dollars to stimulate anything with, it must be printed or borowed.

[DocMoose]

In a year or so we'll all look back on your tongue and cheek hilarity in fondness, as our dollar crashes and our people struggle for mere survival. When that happens, please remember Ron Paul and the truth he's been touting for the last 30 years. The man is a patriot, and a hero, and offers the only real solution to our inevitable woes.

DocMoose

[Lee]

"So does Elizabeth Kucinich's husband!"

- bwhahahahahahahahahaha!!! HIlarious!

[ellen]

"and let's get rid of the IRS" Did I actually hear that in Mr. Huckabee's concession speech last night? I would say Dr. Paul 's influence is mighty, indeed! Go, Ron, GO!!!

[MJ]

Our precinct went to Huckabee and most of the Non Paul people there thought Paul was not running. I don't know how they got that idea.

There were thousands of people at the UT rally. I am a property owner in the 14th district (Ron Paul district.) Most of the people who I have spoken with there supported Ron Paul for congress and president. These people love the Constitution and the ideas of freedom and prosperity. That is why these FEW BRAVE TEXANS WITH RON PAUL shirk governmental funding because we know it only diminishes our freedom and reduces our prosperity.

I am a veteran and do not see how any veteran could take an irreverant stance towards the Paul platform.

Go RON PAUL!!
The CONSTITUTION is the SOLUTION!
Ron Paul R3VOlUTION!

[Carol]

Would it be fair to say that the voters in the Texas district of Ron Paul are knowledgable about his candidacy -- and that the media there has been unable to squash his message...? I think so. And when people HEAR his message they tend to support it OVERWHELMINGLY....

Imagine how Ron Paul would have been received by the rest of the country if they only knew....

We need to press for a WRITE IN campaign. A REAL revolution!

[Dave E.]

Hey Andrew... Thanks for writing about RP, but the heavy sarcasm and snarkiness is getting old. What are you going to write about once the election is over and you no longer have all us RP supporters to drive up your page hits and the corresponding ad revenue?

[DX10]

I have been asking folks for over a year what they think of Dr. Ron Paul. At least 90% of the time they don't even know who he is. Got to be a reason.

I also ask them who owns the Federal Reserve. Almost 100% of the time they say the government.

We are in trouble, folks.

[Sam]

In support of the argument Ron Paul was sidelined, ridiculed and blacked out by MSM:
All major news outlets, electronic or printed, are dependent on the approval of the corporatocracy for their existence, either through ownership by multinational conglomerate corporations such as Disney and GE, or through advertising, and the major corporations' willingness to withhold their advertising if they don't like the content.
Ron Paul has made it clear he is the enemy of the corporate world in at least three major ways:
1. His declaration he would abolish the Federal Reserve Bank
2. His declaration he would abolish the IRS
3. His vow to stop the Iraq war and pull the US out of all foreign military entanglements.
To any multinational conglomerate with its fists in the war machine and/or the banking scheme, Ron Paul is anathema, and they will stop at nothing to stop him.
This tells us who our enemy truly is: the multinational corporate community, because it is intractably opposed to individual freedom. It's what Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex. We are now witnessing the early stages of "humanity hanging on a cross of iron."
Anyone who loves freedom and respects the Constitution should do whatever is possible to either support Ron Paul or find others like him to support. The hope expressed by many Ron Paul supporters - that this campaign may be the beginning of an awakening (the Revolution) - is a valid one, and not the kind of thing "every" candidate's supporters say when they're losing the vote race.

[Andrew]

Now that stealth liberal McCain is the annointed one - should we change the party mascot to a Rhinasserous?

[Mark Watson]

For Dan and Andrew:

I think you need to do a story on UNCOMMITTED DELEGATES and how many of them are actually RON PAUL DELEGATES but uncommitted so that they can cast their vote for Ron at convention.

The point is, according to the DailyPaul.com, that the MSM (mainstream media) is reporting these primary election wins by the Obama, Clinton, or McCain and throwing in all the uncommitted delegates into the totals. This is not correct.

If Ron Paul delegates (those who are officially Ron Paul Delegates, and those who are uncommtted delegates but became delegates to vote for Ron Paul) vote at convention for Ron Paul, you will see McCain DENIED the nomination.

Now that McCain and Romney have each conceded, that leaves 2 left: Paul and McCain. It also means, that now there is ONLY ONE ANTI-WAR CANDIDATE RUNNING IN THIS ELECTION ON EITHER SIDE: RON PAUL

Now if you have a delegate bound to a candidate- and if bound is to mean anything, a candidate cannot force his or her delegates to vote for someone else- for example- Huckabee cannot "give" his delegates to McCain. If that were the case, then there is no meaning to the word "bound" as in tied to the election of a candidate.

So we will see if McCain does get enough bound, committed candidates for the nomination. I doubt it. The fight is on. He has no idea what he is up against.

[FastTracker]

It's truly a sad day when Ron Paul, whose bottom line is to return this nation to the constitutional republic it was meant to be, is dismissed as a 'moonbeam' by those who think they know better.

Regarding 'Songbird' McCain, I'm waiting for the day that the foundation for his glorified status – being a heroic prisoner of war – receives scrutiny within the corporate media. Copy and paste this YouTube video for more information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFM1xqqTX_g

[Sam]

In support of the argument Ron Paul was sidelined, ridiculed and blacked out by MSM:
All major news outlets, electronic or printed, are dependent on the approval of the corporatocracy for their existence, either through ownership by multinational conglomerate corporations such as Disney and GE, or through advertising, and the major corporations' willingness to withhold their advertising if they don't like the content.
Ron Paul has made it clear he is the enemy of the corporate world in at least three major ways:
1. His declaration he would abolish the Federal Reserve Bank
2. His declaration he would abolish the IRS
3. His vow to stop the Iraq war and pull the US out of all foreign military entanglements.
To any multinational conglomerate with its fists in the war machine and/or the banking scheme, Ron Paul is anathema, and they will stop at nothing to stop him.
This tells us who our enemy truly is: the multinational corporate community, because it is intractably opposed to individual freedom. It's what Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex. We are now witnessing the early stages of "humanity hanging on a cross of iron."
Anyone who loves freedom and respects the Constitution should do whatever is possible to either support Ron Paul or find others like him to support. The hope expressed by many Ron Paul supporters - that this campaign may be the beginning of an awakening (the Revolution) - is a valid one, and not the kind of thing "every" candidate's supporters say when they're losing the vote race.

[Alan]

Mr. Malccolm,

At least this latest diatribe of yours was less demeaning to Ron Paul. Are you getting soft finally?

I have read previous rants of yours where you take it upon yourself to insult and bash a man about whom you really and most apparently do not know much. If it weren't for your handlers' obvious dislike and feeling threatened by what Paul represents, I would have to scratch my head and ponder WHY you choose such a meek, mild-mannered, sweet-tempered, and most decent human-being to be the receiver of such outright hatefulness and meaness. How anyone could go after Paul like you have in past writings is beyond me.

What has he done that makes him such a loser and such a bad person in your eyes? Has he been slinging mud and lying up a storm like the other candidates? No, Perhaps that is the reason he bothers you so much--the fact he is a genuine and decent person, the complete opposite of the establishment status-quo candidates you support?

Oh, and while you are going out of your way to slam Ron Paul, at least make sure you get your facts straight. He did come in second place in a couple fo States and you seem to have cenveniently overlooked this.

Media blackout? I think, kind Sir, you know it's a fact. Had he the coverage of the other candidates he'd have already won by now. I meet people every single day who ask, "Where has this guy been?! I've never heard of him until now and now it's too late to vote for him??"

Save your poison for someo else who deserves it like Obama, MCcain, and Hillary. No matter which one wins, we are all in the same boat. I personally am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils in every single election. This election could have been so much different, but now here we are stuck with the same old crap once again.

Perhaps one of your 'saviours' will save our economy? I doubt it and I hope you gat a hard lesson when it all tanks because the fiat dollar becomes totally worthless.

[Mike]

So now that it is down to Barrabas vs. Jesus, which do you think the Republicans will choose?

[Andrew]

You can mock the campaign all you want, erect strawmen of Dr. Paul's supporters and tear them down as if they are ignorant loons (and perhaps some are, but I assure you there are a lot more of those supporting the other candidates), but the fact still remains that Dr. Paul has gotten the shaft time and time again in the media by, frankly, not being supported by the media as the viable candidate that he is. The media praised and worshipped McCain, Romney, and even Huckabee, but refused to give Dr. Paul the time of day. Just because you write a sarcastic, sneering article today that basically is a slap in the face to those who have worked very hard in the Paul campaign by using the same words the rest of the media uses when they occasionally mention that Dr. Paul exists - words like "hopeless", "longshot", "quixotic" campaigns, ad nauseum - it really gets old Mr. Malcolm. I suppose ignorance is bliss, but there are a lot of true patriots who care about defending this country against the tides of evil, corruption, and mindlessness that are leading to its ruin. To mock the Paul campaign is to your own demise, to the demise of all of us and our country. When the economy collapses and martial law is declared, I hope you will remember these comments and remember that people cared and tried to do something before it was too late.

[Gary]

The only the comforting about McCain getting the nomination is that he will LOSE. At least Dr Paul will have the money and support to stay in the race long enough to go the convention. I hope that has McCain nervous. I like seeing him squirm.

Even the briefest opportunity to speak at the convention, Ron and his supporter's message will finally be heard and can be compared by the masses.

Thanks for you're articles. Thanks for the cynicism which is always fun no matter its direction.

[RPliberty]

Thanks again Andrew - this is not over but just beginning. Between McCain's skeletons and stagflation, the TV watchers will start to demand real change.

[PhilG]

It appears you guys HAVE really been following this untelevised revolution. This piece read like some of the posts on DailyPaul. Paul never had a chance because he couldn't give an eloquent speech/communicate his ideas effectively, was a Republican, and because his campaign was infiltrated by whacko code Pinkers who scared off average Repub. primary voters. But I still support and respect the hell out of Dr. Paul. That man there has INTEGRITY. Don't ever change Dr. Paul.

[Logic Lane]

The point isn't to focus on this year; we need to look forward to upcoming elections. In 2012, Paul can work to double his support to garner 42 delegates. And then he will have the momentum in 2016 to double that yet again to 84—which, if the trend of doubling by keeping his core group and attracting the young continues, means that by 2032, he will be the first centenarian candidate for president!

[Tannim]

No suprise there. Peden never had a chance and everybody in the know knew it.

Now back to the GOP main event.

Let's get this straight, once and for all: The Panamanchurain Candidate, John McCain, he of the scandals involving the Keating 5, Abramaoff, Black Mesa, Iseman, Renzi, POWS, and electon fraud; he of the short temper, ignorance of the economy, and "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran", the self-professed "liberal Republican", this piece of work has NOT clinched the nomination.

Let's repeat that for everyone to digest: McCain has NOT clinched the nomination.

The MSM delegate counts are fantasy league projections and have no basis in reality. Mosr delegates to St. Paul have not been selected sicne most states have not held their state conventions yet. Heck, the MSM gives Ohio's *unbound* delegates to McCain, so that should tell the tale right there--the MSM has no clue what is really going on in the inner workings of the GOP.

Meanwhile, look at the money. McCain is stuck in a bind with the FEC rules on matching funds. Dr. Paul is not and has $6M on hand with no debt compared to McCain's $5M in debt alone and little on-hand cash.

Somenody has the funds and the clean slate to go the distance. It's not John McCain, either.

It's Ron Paul.

And we told everyone this would happen months ago.

[Dave Gray]

"St. Paul (no relation to the congressman). "
Technically, they are brothers.

[Shawn]

This is not the most thorough explanation of how "Operation Mockingbird" controls everything 95% of Americans see, hear and think but it's a start for those that need psychological baby food. Mr Womack knows as well as the best how propaganda is pushed on Americans, while the hypocrits on capital hill point at foreign countries and smirk about dishonest elections and biased media. If you can't see the link YouTube: NORTH AMERICAN UNION & VCHIP TRUTH Then do something about it. Educate yourself beyond television and radio. You have to SEEK the TRUTH.

[Patrick Y]

For anyone who doubts that Ron Paul has been ignored by the media, read this study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism:

http://www.journalism.org/node/9610

[Freemarketman]

Maybe it's because you copy and paste that section containing the word "hopeless" every time you run a Ron Paul story. :-)

Since the bulk of the commentators here are Ron Paul supporters, I'm sure they will enjoy this excellent and hard hitting essay by Eric Englund on Central Banks.

http://freethemarketman.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/central-banking-the-depreciation-of-self-worth-and-decivilization/

PS: Andrew, this is not a spam comment. Read the essay and you'll see the importance of sharing it.

[John from Warren, MI]

Mocking, condescending sarcasm duly noted. The financial meltdown Ron Paul tried to warn you about appears as if it might be materializing even before November, which paradoxically might turn out to be good for HillBama. If you lose your job during the coming recession, you won't be getting any sympathy from us. You'll not only be unemployable in any productive endeavor, you'll be getting exactly what you asked for.

[Adrian]

Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are two of the greatest politicians in America. I'm glad they both won and will be keeping a close eye on the MSN/Corporations/lobbies who really rule America.

Evil MSN can laugh all it likes, but if this article did't appear on the net only very wrinkly people would read it.

[Jon]

Um, Paul pretty much confirmed he will not win. I know your sarcasm is directed at the teenagers who get online and post dumb comments without really reading the articles, but it makes it look like you think Paul is an idiot. He knows where he stands, and the only reason he is still in the race is to spread his message. He knows he won't win, just as Huck knew he wouldn't win once Romney gave his delagates to McCain.

p.s. Paul supporters stopped reading the newspapers AFTER seeing that they were ignoring him.

[Mark W.]

Well that was good for a few yucks. I am a fervent Ron Paul supporter, and I have never really even considered an electoral victory as plausible.

I can only speak for myself, but there are probably one or two people who would agree that Dr. Paul is a fine role model. He is a man that Americans should respect and listen to. I cast my vote in yesterday's Texas primary for him, and he'll be my write-in candidate on Election Day (unless he counsels otherwise, and then we'll see).

We've all seen the Ghandi quote ad nauseum. I'm going to have to say that we're still in the "laughing" phase. But we'll see who is laughing in the next election cycle when you have a totally new pool of "likely republican voters" to poll.

[gårcho]

Ron Paul is insane. He would never be elected over and over again if it weren't for two things: the people of Texas are notorious idiots, and his policies are never put in place. If they were they would be completely, irreversibly devastating to our economy and through chain reaction, our entire civilization would collapse. It's so frustrating that his supporters believe in so many righteous ideals yet don't bother to actually follow them up with rational analyzation. I applaud his supporters for feeling like they're do doing something good for America, but feeling like you're doing something good isn't good enough to justify voting for the executive of the country. You have to know you're doing something good, and Ron Paul's policies don't hold up under any logic or reason. Now, please stop your whining and go home.

[Josh]

Where does this quote come from:

"The amount of dollars you have to give up for a barrel of oil is going to increase because the dollar is purchasing less and less."

A Ron Paul speech? No, a lead article in Tuesday's LA Times about the cost of gasoline.

Whether or not people want to admit it, Ron Paul is influencing the country.

[Kevin]

Having gone to battle with the corporate controlled “Bank of the United States”, and won, ending its continuance, President Andrew Jackson said this in his farewell speech, "We are not left to conjecture how the moneyed power, thus organized, and with such a weapon in its hands, would be likely to use it. The distress and alarm which pervaded and agitated the whole country, when the Bank of the United States waged war upon the people in order to compel them to submit to their demands, cannot yet be forgotten. The ruthless and unsparing temper with which whole cities and communities were oppressed, individuals impoverished and ruined, a scene of cheerful prosperity suddenly changed into one of gloom and despondency, ought to be indelibly impressed on the memory of the people of the United States. If such was its power in a time of peace, what would it not have been in a season of war, with an enemy at your doors. No nation but the freeman of the United States could have come out victorious from such contest; yet, if you had not conquered, the Government would have passed from the hands of the many to the hands of the few; and this organized money power, from its secret conclave, would have dictated the choice of your highest officers, and compelled you to make peace or war, as best suited their own wishes. The form of your Government might for a time have remained, but its living spirit would have departed from it."
There were the panics and resulting recessions / depressions of 1811, 1837-41, 1873 (demonetizing of silver), 1893, and 1907, all of which benefited the “money power”. Then the Fed came into being in 1913 (along with the Federal income tax), giving the “money power” / government” the greed / power partnership they were seeking. In 1921 we had the Agricultural depression (documented in Edward E. Kennedy’s book, “The Fed and the Farmer”), where thousands of small farms were destroyed along with the small banks (the intended victims) that had made loans at low interest rates. We had the stock market crash in 1929, which worsened our recession, which Fed policies allowed to grow into the great depression (confirmed by Ben Bernanke at Milton Freidman’s 90th birthday celebration). The Fed protected their corporate interests, worldwide, as Americans were left starving, where these unknowing Americans embraced Roosevelt’s / the money power’s “New Deal” socialism.
Senator Louis T. Mcfadden said it best in his 1930s 25 minute speech against the Fed, "Mr. Chairman, when the Fed was passed, the people of these United States did not perceive that a world system was being set up here…that this country was to supply the financial power to an international superstate. A superstate controlled by international bankers, and international industrialists acting together to enslave the world for their own pleasure”.

[Brandi]

The media can convince the masses not to vote for Ron Paul, but they cannot make him wrong. That's the beauty of supporting someone whole-heartedly; you don't compromise in the end to be on the side that's winning. If he's not on the ballot in November, I'll cherish that once-in-my-lifetime vote for Ron Paul (past primary) and wear my RP t-shirts until the thread no longer holds them together. Thank you for the article.

[Jon Phillips]

My parents have failed us. They only vote once every 4 years and expect to be represented. Nobody care about people who only poke their head up every 4 years. Me and my friends laugh all the time at our parents and their shallow political views. All the time they'll say something like "obama is a muslim", or his middle name is hussein. Or my favorite, "she's a woman", or my dad's logic he served in the military i'm with him.

The future is hear it's our time now, they might of suppressed Ron Paul this time but look at the numbers. Things will be different in 2012, people know who their enemies are now. Save your fear tactics i'm not afraid. I've turned off my TV, and turned my brain back on. 4 years of "more of the same" or "change" that never comes will only help our cause.
You can almost see it on the horizon!

[Stephen]

"Maybe somebody at LA Times can moonlight as a journalist and get on that scoop." - hahaha.

Andrew - Is this a career, or just something you happen to do when you're not being downright hilarious?

(Thank you, Stephen, I think. We're just telling stories here as the 2008 political parade passes by. And sometimes I can't help myself. I'll try to control my base instincts and appreciate your regular visits and reading.)

[Jon Phillips]

Mr. Malcolm,

Go find your place in line!

I make my own decisions.

Ron Paul for Pres, for our future.

(As well you should. I'm sure not trying to tell you whom to vote for. Don't you think this is one of the most fascinating years for politics in recent memory? So many twists and turns. Great to have you and all the others along for this wild ride.)

[Liandro]

I have appreciated the fact that you have continued to cover Paul. And I appreciate the fact that you inserted a picture of Kucinich's wife in place of Dennis himself.

I was and am a big fan of Paul's, and I'm glad he ran, but I understood the degree to which it was an uphill battle. You were more then fair over the course of the election. Thank you.

[Sitting-Bull]

Despite the irony, the US election system is a farce, scum if you want to say. Money, Media and Military dominate the process.

If the media had done their supposed job, that is to report news and not to distort them, the Ron Paul Revolution would surely caught fire.

Nobody wants to be associated with wackos and so on. And how often did the media called Ron Paul and his revolutioners nut jobs, wackos, Ron Paul a long shot candidate. Now we get the candidate you chosen for us- we demand accountability if it ends in another disaster like Bush.

Regards from Germany

[Dave]

I have to admit, this made me laugh. I can appreciate some self-deprecative humor once in awhile. The really funny thing though, is that some of the tongue in cheek comments are actually true.
(The Federal Reserve does bad things.)
Yup.
(The banks and oil companies are in collusion and tell newspapers what to print.)
Again, yes, although in a top down orginizational structure, it's not like Mr. Malcolm has an agent of the new world order standing with a gun to his head.
Rather, it is editorial direction, and journalism that appeals to a certain way of talking about issues and elections that is perceived to be in line with the mainstream. Of course, this perception is subtly created from the top down. Like for example, if someone had been working at enron, they wouldn't necessarily know their bosses were cokking the books. But by working on the projects assigned, they were actively participating in the fleecing, even though they were not actually aware of it. This is how all the globalist institutions like the CFR and WTO work. Only the top tier have a coherent picture of the goals and power structure. The lower members just fall in line to increase their own influence within what they legitimately perceive as the power structure.

[voiceofthepeople]

That's right. Privacy rights' advocate Ron Paul lives and big government, do-gooder Huckabee's endorsement of anyone played backwards indicates he is well you know. Poof (Puff). Hallelujah! Cigarettes won't be banned in all 50 states. Live Free or Die.

[Brian]

Just think if the Federal Reserve was controlled by our government. Our government could collect all that interest and maybe pay off the debt, issue free health care, schooling.. soo on!!!

After McCain is exposed of his corruption, and not being born in the states, default now goes to Ron Paul. At least Ron will be heard and the people can choose for themselves.

Go Ron Paul

[DJ]

C'mon, Mr Malcom! I've lurked through quite a few of your blogs and even though I must thank you for at least reporting something about the campaign, you and I both know very well that Ron Paul has got the shaft from the MSM. I'm only kidding, but...

"Do you take your marching orders from Al-Qaeda?"

(Uh, no. Definitely not. Pls see my nearby explanation I think it may be below here. I can never rememeber how these nearly 20,000 comments stack themselves. It's not as evil as you think, although I understand the impact is adverse anyway. All we can do is all we can do, write our own items and pay attention to the subjects that we think are interesting and important, which is why we unlike so many blogs have paid so much attention to the Paul phenomenon, especially his followers, who are admirable. You might notice in the subject "cloud" to the right here that Dr. Paul is the only candidate so far to have his own subject line because we've written so much about him. Click on it and you can go back to last summer to see the items if you want. And we intend to continue to write about him and the campaign. So if some evil corporate giant is sending us secret messages to ignore him, they ain't getting through. Thanks for coming and reading and your patience.)

[Christina]

Mr. Malcom,
I love you.
Marry me!
LOL
Chris

[David A.]

Hi gentlemen. Enjoy your coverage on Ron Paul, even if your sarcasm is biting.

Is it possbile you, who are part of the MSM, don't have a grasp on your own ability to shape perception ?

Even the act of choosing not to write news reports on certain persons or events, is a volitional act of the will. (and if those persons or events were truly newsworthy, would constitute a 'sin' of omission, would it not ?)

I won't repeat the prior posts, who did a great job showing how the MSM's collective decision, at a crucial juncture, to ignore Ron Pauls acheivements led many to believe he was no longer running.

This definetly had the effect of demoralizing those who cheered his message.

We have beome a nation of sheep.

The Lord Jesus Christ, in the gospels, referred to the masses as 'sheep, without a shepherd'. And we Christians (yes there are a devoted number amongst RP supporters) are also called the Lord's sheep.

This analogy might be lost upon our urbanized culture, but it's not a compliment he was giving us.

Sheep are dumb, easily frightened, easily mislead, practically defenseless. (OK, maybe they're cute, too...) But the point is, we are too easily satisfied with pat answers that confirm us in our comfort zones.

So a man like Ron Paul comes along, and plays the role of "Prophet" and to some degree, 'shepherd' - but we dumb sheep desire neither.

We are pretty comfortable in the old familar pastures. We've heard tell, rumors, of the greener, taller grass beyond the far hills, but we all think it's a fairy tale. Not worth the effort. Unverifiable.

And the media, verify for us, most of our perceptions that keep us there - they question the sanity & veracity of the 'Prophet' - they deny the existance of other pastures, or the possibility of lush green, tall grasses.

(Of course they do. Their paychecks come from the men who maintained the fences & grazing contracts on the old pastures, right ?.....)

(Well, I don't know much about livestock, but I can tell you that speaking for myself, believe it or not, at neither of the two large news corporations I've worked at for some 40 years has anyone ever told me what to write. Especially here on the blog we have incredible freedom to write what we want when we want about whatever subject. My experience in life in and out of journalism suggests that whenever you smell a conspiracy, more likely the accurate explanation is simple human stupidity. And it's coincidental. Fact is, Dr. Paul's staff were not always as savvy as some about attracting attention to him. And until you get inside the campaign's sympathizers and hear their passion and eloquence, it can seem like a loony effort. And some of Dr. Paul's commenters in certain places add to that reputation. Not here because we made the effort. And I can see what you see. I'm not trying to convince you, just explain it from my inside perspective.)

And we being sheep, go along, by staying put.

Only by following a true shepherd (s), and ignoring the false or misleading ones, can we ever leave these barren pastures.

I'm not deifying Dr. Paul.

I am recognizing that his conclusions & solutions can generally only be embraced by those who desire to repent of wrongdoing - and not just in religiously 'safe' ways. Our culture is awash in false shepherds with false & misleading messages.

(Honestly, It is even OK to have a personal type of repentance, as long as it is safely locked away inside us. However, when it dares to leave us personally, and threatens to bring change to the system....then the offensiveness of True repentance is manifest.)

One way to spot a false shepherd & message is that it will promise us 'change & personal benefit, without costing you, personally'.

A true shepherd & message will point out that there is a firm, transcendent standard of right & wrong & our pain is a result of trying to violate that Standard. Our healing consists of changing our ways to conform to that standard, so that we're in harmony with it & can benefit by that harmony.

The first is a pleasureable mirage, but deceptive denial of reality.

The second is nothing less that admitting reality itself - and the futility of fighting it.

Which shepherd & message we are commited to will determine the direction of the nation.

"A nation of sheep will in time beget a government of wolves"

David Alan

[ART DEKKO]

REMEMBER TO TELL YOUR GRANDCHILDREN HOW, IN 2008, FOR THE VERY 1ST TIME, A FINE, HONEST, US PRESIDENT RON PAUL, WAS ELECTED IN THE TRULY "DEMOCRATIC" WAY.....BY WRITE-IN VOTE.

AND JUST THINK.....

YOURS AND MINE WERE TWO OF THEM!

[Karl]

Gold tops $1000, the dollar loses 55% of its value vis-a-vis the euro, the house projects Iraq war to cost 2.4 trillion...hooray let's vote for global depression and a 100 year war in 2008. WE CAN DO IT! Vote Barack McClinton '08.

[Agent Smith]

"These fans fervently scour the Internet at all hours for stories like this to comment on"

I've been on for 5 minutes browsing for a story, to see what's new. Don't flatter yourself.

(Never. But you found us. And so did a ton of others so far today. Thanks to you and them for the visit.)

[Robespierre]

Very droll, Mr Andrew Malcolm -- and I write that affectionately as someone who became a libertarian at the U of Chicago most likely around the time that you were still in diapers! In an age of irony & cynicism it's refreshing to encounter a young person getting involved in civil discourse in such a witty & positive manner. Nonetheless, Ron Paul still did a great job of carrying the message of individual liberty, personal responsibility, fiscal prudence, and an anti-imperialistic foreign policy to a nation of voters whose tolerance for political unconventionality is essentially nil.

(And I will repeat here my salute to you and the others for your profound involvement in the political process. So many people seem to be just cheerleaders when it's convenient but I've found over the months the Paul supporters to be genuinely involved and engaged and we thank them here at The Ticket for sharing their insights-- o.k., sometimes some are mad -- with us. Hats off. I also love your online name. Very historic! Please don't knife us.)

[Unbelievable]

Are you kidding me? I'm no Dennis Kucinich fan, but your comments about running his picture are really out of line. But if you can stoop that low, so can I ... You're the ugliest one of the bunch so why don't you remove your own picture so I don't have to see it every time I'm here? No wait ... that won't be an issue since I won't be visiting your lame 'hopeless' blog any more.

(Cause it's my blog. DK has his photo all over his site. You can do the same on yours. And while you're at it, work on your sense of humor.)

[Jim]

It always amazes me that "intellectuals" like Andrew Malcolm mock Ron Paul's stance on the Fed as wacko.

A bunch of suits get in a room and pull interest rates out of their a$$es and print money out of thin air to meet the demand for the artificially-cheap money, and that's "sane." Ron Paul points out that that government wouldn't be able to fund wars and social programs through devaluation of the currency if we followed the Constitution (which isn't supposed to be an "optional" document) and backed our currency with gold or silver, but he's a "wacko."

I guess I'd rather be a "wacko" than an "intellectual."

(Well, that's the first time I've been sworn at and called an intellectual. Thank you. Maybe in comparison to a biker gang. But no thank you. I salute Ron Paul and his thousands of supporters, which is why, unlike most online places, we've written so much about him and them. If you look at the adjacent Hillary Clinton item, you've got to have a sense of humor in this business.)

[Republicae]

The day will come when the detractors of Ron Paul will cry and gnash their teeth shouting for the solutions that Dr. Paul has offered this Nation as it sinks into an economic tailspin not seen in our history.

Everything in this country, in this global economy, is totally dependent upon a Fiat Monetary System that has an inherent terminal life-span. Dr. Paul has been warning us for years that every Fiat Monetary System in history ultimately fails, ours will be no different even though the 'talking heads" in our government, in the central banks, and in the bought media say all is well. The truth will be a very hard one to face, brutal in its reality as a systematic break-down of the Fiat Economy collapses as all Fiat Economies do.

If Ron Paul is no elected in 2008, and it appears that the American People will not choose wisely, then by 2012 we will all wish he had been!!!

(Well, as both an American voter and a blogger, I sincerely look forward to Ron Paul making his case and express my admiration right here for the resiliency and dedication of his supporters, who by and large are a charming friendly bunch,, unlike the supporters of some other candidates. So everybody is welcome. Thanks for reading.)

[dave]

if paul or kucinich were owned by someone, and that someone happened to be the same one who owned someone else who owned some blog, they might expect fair treatment? even then, i don't think so, as you seem to fail to understand the concept of freedom. interesting concept of ownership/slavery vs. freedom of speech. to define yourself as a totally corrupt, spineless tool is sad. especially if you think it's true.

(We understand the concept of freedom just fine. Which is why we write what we want and so many thousands a day come here to read it and so many email these things to others and hundreds of readers leave comments every day, even on old items because they too have the same freedoms. Which I gather is a big part of Dr. Paul's platform, individual freedoms. So we're all for it. Don't get too serious on us now. Politics needs to be a fun spectator sport as well as serious business in the end of voting.)

[Truth speaks]

And then there were two.

Ron Paul will be the dark horse that wins the election.

You just wait people.

It hath been foretold

[DRUMZ.org]

"How Paul supporters know their candidate has been ignored when they claim to no longer read newspapers is unexplained."

Do a search on Google News genius. Look...

Results 1 - 10 of about 21,001 for Ron Paul. (0.35 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 115,719 for John McCain. (0.24 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 33,200,000 for Hillary Clinton. (0.33 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 28,200,000 for Barack Obama. (0.15 seconds)

Ron Paul is mentioned in the news media 21,001 times VS. Obama getting mentioned over 28 MILLION times!

THAT is how Ron Paul supporters know he is being ignored.

[Seth M]

Sarcasm is so last year and the media's self-fulfilled prophecy of Ron Paul comes as no surprise to me.

We need to put a cap on election spending or find some way to effectively deregulate this current system.

Ron Paul is the only candidate left that is not sponsored by big business. Say what you will, but that is the truth.

McCain, Hillary, and Obama give you pretty much the same thing with slight alterations. We will still have deficit spending, an overseas empire, and a highly compromised monetary policy.

My prediction. The only "change" you're going to see is the "change" from what's left of your paycheck. Have fun with that!

[DenisL]

Who else but Kucinich and Paul are really worth voting for? I really do not understand why it is hard for people to NOT vote for the two man with principles and consistency. The others do not even have a glimmer about what those words mean as applied to them. For some reason we do not want these qualities in our elected representatives. I would vote for them both even if I was the only one in the US to do so and I have to write them in. To do otherwise is just a wasted vote for Mr. Tweedledee, MrsTweedledum, or Mr. Tweedledummer.
Go principles, go statesman and go with what is right!! We need to save America and it starts with each of us doing what is right. I am going to do my part. The rest is up to you.

[Rex Brocki]

A note to my fellow paulteers,

It was said of the Archie Bunker character: "Archie isn't prejudiced-- he hates everybody!"

We can paraphrase: "Malcolm isn't prejudiced-- he MAKES FUN of everybody!"

Its the "isn't prejudiced" part that counts. My friends, can you think of ANY other current news writer who treats Paul EXACTLY THE SAME as he treats Hillarybama, Mcshame, etc? (see, even I don't). I have read, so far as I know, every piece written about Paul this election (that scored a google hit, anyway!), and I can't think of a single other such writer.

So Andrew, please keep up the good work. I will take FAIR sarcasm ANY DAY over the horribly UNFAIR (I can't even think of a foul enough word) drek that passes for news writing virtually everywhere else!

Sincerely,

Rex A. Brocki
disgruntled former reporter (oh, shame!),
disgruntled former Democrat,
disgruntled former Goldwater/Reagan Republican,
...and rabid, slavering Ron Paul supporter

[andre (UK)]

Unfortunately, the joke is on america right now in the eyes of the informed population. When all is said and done, Andrew, Ron Paul and his supporters speak with a concience. Do you Mr Malcome? Let us pray that Ron Paul somehow rises above the blatant censoring-yes blatant! We've been taken by america and only Ron Paul can offer the correct accountabilty and appeasement.
(Not to mention the duty of a president is first to serve americans).

[ellen]

I have to tell you guys-it is pretty awesome that you actually read these comments and take the time to "comment" on them. So I'm humbly asking for advice...What SHOULD we do to become more media-savvy and get word out about our particular obsession: Ron Paul?? Any ideas from the front line?

(Well, thanks. We like the dialogue. That's one of the unique aspects of this blog, kind of like a community of discussion. Actually, I've gone into some detail in responses to comments on other recent Ron Paul items. So maybe you can click on the Ron Paul subject line to the right here and check them out. As one example, when you had the money bomb day, it was a Sunday. The record-breaking results were released at midnight on a Sunday night on the website. How not to get noticed. We had the story right away because I was waiting up looking for it. But that's the worst time to release news, though you can continue to complain about being ignored that way. What if, say, the campaign had a public ceremony Monday at noon, invited TV cameras and 4 Ron Paul supporters presented an oversized check for the new record breaking sum of $6 million to the candidate himself. More than any other candidate in the fields had raised to date in one day online. Think that would get on TV? You can't just sit on the porch and make pronouncements these days and think the world will hear you. Mike Huckabee had less money than Dr. Paul yet was on free national TV shows virtually daily because of his communications team, good nature, ability to tell stories and a joke.)

[linda]

Andrew said:
It seems I'm hopelessly enthralled by the word hopeless, doesn't it? Mathematically it's true, but I see your point.

Don't bet the farm on that one Andy.

[Jive Dadson]

My aren't we sarcastic? Here are some more things to chuckle about: Crude oil is up four bucks today, well north of a hundred - one day after Bernanke spoke and the PPT was a bunch of busy beavers. The dollar is down, as usual, against every major currency. Food commodity prices are up again, most at or near all time highs. Yes, the Fed does bad things.

Got gold?

(Sure. Doesn't everybody?)

[David W.A. Robertson,Scotland]

Andrew:

The future of a nation at a time like this is no joking matter. Do you know you are an innocent dupe. Just like those poor deluded suicide bombers in Baghdad, just not so courageous. What will happen to you when businesses fail, the advertising dollars dry up and the LAT starts laying off the drones like yourself. Have you got a retirement plan invested in CDO's or the rest of the alphabet soup of useless paper? Do you know that virtually every bank you know is going to fail?

There will be survivors, like the "inside" debt money cartel who will swallow up your bank for pennies on the dollar and leave you out in the cold night wiithout a coat, in winter. They are a ruthless bunch and it is my guess you are not on their guest list for their brave new world. At least you can commiserate with your fellow cast offs, for the few weeks you have left to live in the gutter, that you knew about a man once who might have prevented all this and you thought it was more fun to use him as a butt for your sad humour. You won't be laughing then.

David W.A.Robertson, Scotland.

(So we'll be laughing all the way to the failed banks. You Scots are so dour, like my relatives from there. You're equating a political blogger with a suicide bomber in Baghdad and you're telling me about delusions? Phewee!
Go have a pint.)

[ellen]

Hi...Andrew? I clicked on the Ron Paul subject line to the right and it brought me to Ron Paul's "Hope For America" page. I am really interested in whatever advice you can give. Thank you.

[Tom]

Dear Andrew, Dr. Paul's campaign slogan is "Hope for America." After this year's election with Pres. B.O. in charge, "hopeless" is how we will describe our country's chances of being admired and respected ever again. I wonder how the international community of Muslims will like our new Arab president. I think they will be furious if he doesn't get the US war machine out of their neighborhoods. We will see blowback the likes of which will be unprecedented.

[ellen]

uh.."Never mind..." I found the articles :)

[Robyn]

Ron Paul's own congressional district did not want him for president.
Out of 55,791 who voted in the primary
only 6,697 voted for Ron Paul to be their choice for president.

Mike Huckabee.....17,969 votes.....32.20%
John McCain.....27,462 votes....49.22%
Mike Huckabee.....17,969 votes.....32.20%
Ron Paul.....6,697 votes.....12.00%
Mitt Romney.....1,035 votes.....1.85%

http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/mar04_135_state.htm

[David W.A. Robertson,Scotland]

What happened to your sense of humour Andrew? Guess I hit the sweet spot that time. It's not so funny when you're the one on the receiving end, is it?

The "deluded" part referred to the fact that you were, unwittingly, selected for your job by a "psycho" analyst who asked you questions designed to find out, specifically, if you had the attention span of a gnat, an antipathy for deep thinking and a tendency to defend your dilettantism with whimsy, when it came to serious existential questions. You won first prize, the Top of the Ticket weblog.

I am sure you must have heard of that accounting term FIFO? That my friend is your destiny. Let's see if you can do one penitential, serious blog before you leave the building.

(Actually, I think it's hilarious. I love the back-and-forth, as I told another commenter here a few minutes ago. Rather unique for such a blog and, judging by our rapidly-hrowing numbers, one that's increasingly appreciated. I have a bulletin board here of comments to save. I'm considering adding yours. But you can't really think, even with the intelligence that goes with four initials, that we take such comments seriously. Even in the Colonies. Appreciate you coming all this way just to read us.)

[Patrick]

Andrew,

You remind me very much of Ellsworth Toohey. I'll leave it to you to decide whether that's an insult or a compliment.

(Well, Patrick, now that you have uncovered my evil plot to take over the world, I'm afraid you must be eliminated, as well-read as you obviously are. It's a shame. My empire could use men like you.)

[HackJournosRUs]

You guys are a pair of old establishment media hacks. We don't need your sarcasm or your BS. I wonder how you guys can even live with yourselves passing yourselves off as journalists. You guys have no journalistic integrity and are not even capable of serious discussion of the real issues facing this country.

Your fiat currency is crumbling, gold is on the rise, gold has maintained it's value against oil while your fiat currency has fallen off a cliff and you still mock Ron Paul for his crazy ideas.

Malcolm, you used to work for Bush right? Well that was time well spent wasn't it? This murderous scumbag has caused the deaths of millions but we don't care because all those muslims are terrorists, right?

According to the proud and esteemed establishment media outlet polls Ron Paul was to lose to Peden but what happens? Ron Paul wins in a landslide. Now was that just a slipup on the part of the media or was it deliberate distortion. Gee I don't know, maybe the mocking, ignoring and marginalization of Ron Paul was just a big slipup.

Get lost you hack journos. Your biased views aren't fooling as many people as they used to. Grow a spine and do some real journalism for a change. I'm pretty sure at some point in time the LA Times had higher standards but maybe it's always been an illusion.

[Terri]

I do enjoy the interactive aspect of your blog and agree that once Huckabee was on board, his campaign knew what to do to keep him riding the media train. But, it was Iowa that gave him the ticket *exposure* to showcase his likability and quick wit. He also saw what part of Ron Paul's message was connecting with voters and adopted parts of it as his own, making him even more popular.

Paul may have had inept communications people, but the media also generally chose to ignore him (because of the polls?). Not to mention the obvious outright disrespect in debates. CNN's Anderson Cooper immediately comes to mind.

Thank you for taking the time to follow Ron Paul and his supporters. After being a Democrat for 30 years, I switched parties to vote for him. Never active in politics, I signed up to lead a precinct and before I knew it, started a meet-up group.

Now I am debating whether I want to remain a republican and work within the party to spread Paul's message of liberty, peace, and prosperity.

There are thousands and thousands of us. GOP take note.

(I enjoy the back-and-forth too. Well, for what it's worth I believe it about the thousands. We had items on the debate times and you're right, Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich got significantly less time, as did earlier Joe Biden, Chris Dodd. If you watch them, part of it is raising your hand to indicate you've got a comment during someone else's answer. or simply stepping in and providing an answer though not asked. To just stand there and take the ignoring results in less time. There is an element of competition here, which isn't really bad actually. We want an assertive president.)

[Tannim]

"Ron Paul is insane. He would never be elected over and over again if it weren't for two things: the people of Texas are notorious idiots, and his policies are never put in place. If they were they would be completely, irreversibly devastating to our economy and through chain reaction, our entire civilization would collapse. It's so frustrating that his supporters believe in so many righteous ideals yet don't bother to actually follow them up with rational analyzation. I applaud his supporters for feeling like they're do doing something good for America, but feeling like you're doing something good isn't good enough to justify voting for the executive of the country. You have to know you're doing something good, and Ron Paul's policies don't hold up under any logic or reason. Now, please stop your whining and go home."

Typical Paul detractor. Let's see here:

"A constitutionalist is insane." I guess that makes the Founding Fathers and their founding of America insane as well.

"Texans are idiots." I'm sure they'll appreciate such an enlightened opinion. The feeling is probably mutual.

"Paul's policies are never put in place." It's the Constitution, stupid!

"His policies would damage the economy and collapse civilization. " OK, Einstein, how? And how does that compare with the collapse that is happenning RIGHT NOW without his policies in place?

"His supporters aren't rational." Sure, right. We are more educated and informed than the average "I like his necktie" voter like you.

"His supporters don't analyze his ideals." Funny, I seem to recall that was done once in a highly popular piece of historical literature called the Federalisr Papers.

"Feeling like doing good isn't enough to justify a vote, but knowing you are is." We know we are doing good by voting for our man. What we don't get is why others don't do the saem when they hold their nose and vote for a bad candidate like McCain, Clinton, or Obama.

"His policies don't hold up under logic or reason." It's the Constitution, stupid! It's held up for 221 years so far, and we're lucky it's lasted that long.

"His supporters should stop whining and go home." We're not leaving. We have a just cause, and we know what's going on, and we know what's coming, too.

In general, gaucho had a rant cevoid of any logic, reason, or intelligence. The unfortunate part is that people like him actually vote!

[Patrick]

I know I'm a little late to the comment section but I'd like to point out that Andrew Malcolm has done a great service to the Ron Paul campaign. He has consistently been one of the most outspoken of all MSM journalists/bloggers with objectionable editorials that stray far from the normal smear blogs. I've been listening to POTUS '08 on XM for about 8 months now. Scott Walterman had Andrew on and Andrew spent the whole segment talking about Ron Paul. He spoke of the fund raising and the passion of the supporters. Overall a very favorable interview. That was the first time I had heard more than 1 or 2 sentences about Paul on the station. So I'd like to take this time to thank Andrew for his support of the campaign.

Thank You and keep 'em coming.

(Well, in that case, Patrick, we won't mark you down as late. Thanks for reading -- and listening. It's a good channel, isn't it? Very professional.)

[Marc]

Step 1) Corrupt and complicit Congress unconstitutionally hands total control of US Mint printing presses to private 'Fed' bankers.
Step 2) Fed cuts interest rates to the bone, thus enabling banks around the country to 'borrow' billions from the Fed so as to ensure an endless supply of funds to lend at marked-up interest rates (ensuring commensurate banker profits).
Step 3) Banks now loan these same dollars to American citizens at higher interest rate.
Step 4) Housing market, flush with buyers across the nation who have huge amounts of bank-borrowed dollars, skyrockets as demand outstrips supply and buyers bid homes far higher than their actual value using borrowed money.
Step 5) A nation of indebted citizens foreclosed upon and kicked to the curb as the free market finally corrects the corrupt monetary practices implemented by the Fed in Step 1 to enrich their banker friends and themselves.
Step 6) Banks take homes of foreclosed citizens.
Step 7) International community recognizes endless printing of dollars renders them of little more value than sand. Dollar plummets in relation to gold, silver, oil, wheat, sugar, and anything else real.
Step 8) Foreign countries (see Dubai, as just one example) take ownership of banks that are about to fail due to the banks investing the money loaned out to the citizens in Step 2 even though this money wasn't really in their vaults.
Step 9) Constitution relegated to status of toilet paper. [note: could have moved this step above Step 1 or to any Step thereafter.

Moral of story: When government gives control of the citizens money supply to private bankers, as explicitly prohibited in no uncertain terms by the Constitution, those bankers will in turn by inflation and deflation take everything of tangible value from the citizens and turn them into slaves (see the income tax). Pretty sad that this moral already actually existed long before Congress voted to give the US Mint to the Fed.

How's that ignoring of the Constitution working out for America now?

p.s. Not to mention foreign entanglements that benefit the military-industrial complex to the tune of hundreds of billions more while the nation's military men and women get maimed or killed wholesale supposedly fighting for our 'freedom'... Sheesh.

[james]

Wow, this story rocked!!

[will]

You seem like a snotty little jerk. Both of the people you just wasted bandwidth mocking are at the very least sincere.

[Dover]

Yeah, I've been doing the same thing as you, author. Write funny posts about Ron Paul to bait his loonies. It helps drive up site traffic. You should have gotten on the bandwagon earlier, though.

[wendy]

PAUL/KUCINICH INDEPENDENT RUN FOR 08? ANYBODY?